102 The Carnivora. 
birds was a matter of astonishment to my friend Stanley 
Hall, a man of exceptional powers of vision, and a crack rifle 
shot, and even he sometimes was obliged to take up the 
binocular to verify the dog’s sight. 
I recollect one notable example of this. The wind had 
been increasing all the morning, with rain squalls, and about 
mid-day became too much for our miserably rickety boat; 
consequently we determined to run for a small island of 
two or three acres in extent, under whose lee it would be 
possible to pass the night in safety should one of the short 
but furious “Southerly busters” come on, which would be 
fatal to us if we should be caught in the five miles of open 
water that separated us from the mainland. For ten minutes 
or so our cranky craft had been running before nasty seas, 
Hall being at the sculls, and I busy shovelling the water 
out. Just as we came into the calmer water to leeward of 
the island, Carlo I. mounted his look-out station on the stern 
seat,and presently began to whimper. ‘“‘ What’s the matter 
with the dog?” said Hall; “I suppose he saw a shark’s 
fin, or he doesn’t like this driving mist; there’s no likelihood 
of any ducks hereabouts.” “Well,” I said, “ he means something, 
depend upon it; scull the boat’s head round to windward, 
and let’s watch him.” The object of this manceuvre was to 
ascertain whether he would continue to look in the same 
direction. As the boat first lay, his eye looked a point or two 
before the beam over the starboard side, and when she was 
turned his eye was fixed in a direction a point or two abaft 
the beam on the port side, as J find from a rough diagram 
accompanying the notes put down the same evening. It 
was clear now that the dog saw some object on the water, 
but neither of us could find it. I then took the binocular, 
and soon made out a large flight of ducks bobbing about 
on the broken water. Possibly the dog had seen them 
alight, and this would make it easier for him to keep his 
eye on them, though we could not find them without the 
help of the glass. This, at all events, was good luck, and 
